Tiles are typically placed on an adhesive such as mortar to attach the tiles to the underlying surface. Spacers are used between tiles to provide a uniform spacing between the tiles. In wall applications, the bottom tiles rest on a support surface, such as a floor or ledge. The second row of tiles rests on the bottom row of tiles via spacers that are positioned on the bottom row of tiles. The stacking of rows of tiles is repeated up to the top row of tiles such that the spacers transfer the weight of all the tile rows to the bottom row, and thus to the floor or ledge. The spacers are removed after the mortar is cured or dried sufficiently to hold the tiles in place, and the gaps between the tiles are then filled with grout.
For some types of wall designs, decorative inserts are used that are not able to support the weight of additional rows of tiles above the insert, or include uneven edges or backing material that make support of the upper tile row on the decorative insert using prior art spacers impractical. For these types of designs, the wall is built up to the insert and then it is necessary to wait for the adhesive to dry or cure before installing the tile rows above the decorative insert in order to prevent these tile rows from disturbing the placement of the decorative insert. Therefore, further improvements in this area are needed.